Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Still no new paintings to post, but I thought I'd post a couple of oldies instead, just so you folks wouldn't think I was dead. I call this one Mountain Highway, and I painted it on a summer evening in 2005, by the light of a jerry-rigged lamp at the kitchen table in our camper while camping in Belfast, Maine. The scene was based on a photo I took on Route 26 between Errol, NH and Newry, ME. I believe the mountain is called Old Speck. If you're ever up that way, you should take a drive from Newry to Errol and then circle around to Gorham, NH. It's beautiful, wild country, abundant with wildlife (i.e., deer, moose, etc.).

Sistersca. 2000, acrylics on canvas16x20

This is another of my early paintings, I call it Sisters, and it's a painting I did nearly ten years ago of our old neighborhood. Our house, in which we lived for sixteen years, is the one at the right. The lines are a little wonky, and the photo doesn't do it justice, as the colors are quite striking, with the sunlight running in bright yellow bands down the hilly front lawns.

Foggy Evening, Old Orchard Beach2007, acrylics on canvas12x24

This was an experiment, as I was trying to paint the OOB pier on a foggy night. I didn't like the way it came out, lived with it for a short time, and then painted over it.

Whew. In case you couldn't tell, I've been in a major painting slump. It hasn't helped that it's rained for nearly three weeks now, with only an occasional sunny day interspersed with all the doom and gloom. It's raining again today, and the forecast calls for rain, rain, and more rain, although we may see some sun in between raindrops during the next couple of days. One can only hope. I can take a day or two of rain, but when it rains like this, for weeks, it really gets me down, and I find myself unable to do anything but sit around and feel sorry for myself. Which is very unhealthy!

So this morning, I went downstairs, turned on the lights, and allowed myself to play with paint, which always restores my spirit. I really got into it, shoving my fingers into the gooey stuff and swiping it all over the canvas. I just love the way it feels on my hands. This painting is a commission, and a gift, so I can't say anything more about it publicly. But I'm excited to be painting ANYTHING at this point, and I have my sticky, paint-laden fingers crossed that it will please the giftee (Is that a real word?).

Monday, June 8, 2009

Just a few photos from yesterday's trip to Boston. The Beacon Hill Art Walk was fabulous, but we walked our legs off. Up and down, zigging and zagging all over the Hill, over crooked and buckling brick sidewalks. The artwork was beautiful, amazing, invigorating, inspiring, so much to see! So many different styles! I discovered a few artists I really liked, and scooped up their business cards, but since I got home at 10:45 last night and had to work this morning, I haven't had time to look any of them over yet. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the sunlight and shadows all over the Hill were spectacular. Got a chance to chat again with Sean Flood, who I blogged about after the SOWA Art Walk, and to enjoy his wonderful paintings again. We also got the chance to walk all over the city, which I always enjoy doing, but the walking is tough on this out-of-shape old lady!

We also stopped by The Trident Booksellers & Cafe on Newbury Street, near Mass Ave, where JJ Long has a solo exhibit hanging right now. I think his exhibit will only be up for another week, so if you're in the Boston area, now is the time to stop in and check out JJ's work. I love realism, and JJ's brand of realism just sings!

I didn't get to take as many photos of the city as I'd hoped, and I was carrying my hubby's small camera instead of my new one (which is pretty bulky for carrying around all day), but I'm hoping I got two or three photos that would make good paintings. I've only done one painting since I got back from SOWA three weeks ago, and I'm starting to itch to pick up a brush. So stay tuned; new paintings will be posted within the week.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

This Sunday, my sister-in-law and I are headed to Boston on the Amtrak Downeaster to visit the Beacon Hill Art Walk. This art exhibit I'll be seeing as a visitor, and not as a participant. It will be different from any kind of art exhibit I've ever visited; artists and musicians will be set up in the private back gardens and yards of Beacon Hill homes. These are places the public doesn't usually get to see, so it will be a real treat, not just looking at the art, but getting glimpses into the private homes and lives of Beacon Hill residents.

The weather report is promising, and although I sometimes have trouble climbing (and this is, of course, Beacon Hill), I plan to pace myself so that I can see all the art I'm hoping to see. There will be many artists there whose work I've never seen, as well as some whose work I admire: Sean Flood, who I mentioned in an earlier post, will be exhibiting there, and so will Jen Matson, a Boston photographer whose work I've been admiring for several years now. The day promises to be tiring, but fun.

It's been a while since I went down on the train, and now that they've finally put BENCHES in North Station (what a novel idea, to provide seating for the hundreds of people waiting to board the trains...), I'm looking forward to it. It does make for a long day, though. The train arrives back in Portland a little after nine p.m. on Sunday night, and I still have a 60-mile drive to get home from there. Plus, I have to work Monday morning. But I'm sure the trip will be worth any fatigue I'll experience.

The city of Boston energizes me in a way nothing else does. And I plan to bring my camera, so that I can take some cityscape photos which I hope will turn into future paintings!

About Laurie Breton

Original Paintings and Custom House Portraits for Sale

I paint colorful New England landscapes and cityscapes in acrylic. You can purchase my original paintings, small prints, and digital photography through my Etsy shops, CityscapesByBreton, ViridianArt, and Heartshots. You can also purchase prints of many of my paintings, in various sizes, at Fine Art America. The link below will take you directly to my shopping cart.

If you're in Maine, and want to check out my work up close and personal, you can find a number of my paintings in their summer home, at the Rock and Art Shop on Route 1A in Ellsworth.

Followers

Laurie Breton is a contemporary realism painter who has lived her entire life in Maine and who feels a close connection to the New England landscape.Her paintings of Maine country roads, New England cityscapes, and old houses reflect those deep roots.

Painting came to her late in life.As a child, she loved to draw.But it wasn't until her late thirties that she picked up a paintbrush, began creating art on canvas, and fell in love with painting.

She calls what she does "painting the light" because her paintings reflect her passion for light and shadow and their effects on the landscape. As a self-taught artist, Breton paints what she feels in her heart. Every scene she commits to canvas was chosen because it has struck some deep emotional chord in her, and she tries to infuse her work with that same strong emotion.It is her belief that if she is able to invoke that emotion in just one other person, she’s done her job well.

Over time, certain themes have emerged in her work.As we seek meaning in our busy lives, we tend to overlook the ordinary, the everyday, the familiar places and things that shape who and what we are.Even as we continually seek that elusive "something else," the overlooked ordinary—the innate sense of home—is the reality in which we live our lives.That reality is what Breton tries to paint.She hopes that people will see her art and feel that connection, that "I've been there" feeling, that belief that what she’s captured on canvas is a reality that's deeply and intimately familiar to them.She wants her work to take the viewer to that home-place each of us holds inside.

Her paintings are held in private collections in both the U.S. and abroad.